1. A Visit to Fred’s Home Near Luverne, Minnesota
Frederick Manfred
A Visit to Fred’s Home Near Luverne, Minnesota
Text and Photographs by Professor Thomas Gasque

2. Who was Frederick Manfred?
Frederick Manfred was a novelist who wrote about Siouxland and the greater Midwestern and Western regions. He lived near Luverne, Minnesota. The following pictures represent a small part of his years there when he was writer-in-residence at the U.
Photo: 6/24/73

3. The Man Himself
Frederick Manfred looks over his estate on Blue Mound, near Luverne, Minnesota. There is a spectacular view of the surrounding prairie from the mound, a major landmark for early fur traders, who called it “The Rock.” Nearby flows the Rock River, named for this prominent feature.
Photo: 6/1/73

4. Fred at His House
Fred designed the house that he and his family lived in for many years. It is built into the hill, and the glass front allows a wide view of the landscape. An outcropping of Sioux Falls quartzite forms the back wall of the house. Above the house is a small tower with glass all around. Fred used that space as his writing studio. The building is now the Interpretative Center for Blue Mound State Park.
Photo: 6/1/73

5. A Visit with Fred Manfred
In May 1973, a group of students studied Manfred’s novel Lord Grizzly and other books about Hugh Glass’s experience and then hiked a large portion of the Hugh Glass Trail in Northwestern South Dakota. Glass, a Mountain Man, was wounded by a bear and crawled nearly 200 miles. Pictured here at Manfred’s house in Minnesota are John Nagel, Gregg Rhodes, Cathy Flum, Manfred, Jean Husat, and Prof. Gervase Hittle, who directed the class.
Photo: 6/1/73

6. Manfred & the Hugh Glass Trekkers
Fred examines a map with the hardy academics who had just followed the Hugh Glass trail across western South Dakota. Clockwise: Manfred, Gregg Rhodes, John Nagel, Cathy Flum, Jean Husat, and Prof. Gervase Hittle.
Photo: 6/1/73

7. Viewing the Landscape
Prominent American Indian poet Paula Gunn Allen came to Vermillion in 1973, and we took her to visit Manfred. Here Manfred, Allen, Gervase Hittle, and Jean Husat look at a row of stones that Manfred believed had been set out to mark the equinox sunrise.
Archaeologists have examined the stones and have determined that they were placed there and are not a natural formation.
Photo: 6/24/73

8. Fred, Jean, and Paula
Fred and University of South Dakota English graduate student Jean Husat among the grass and granite outcroppings on Fred’s property. In the background is poet Paula Gunn Allen.
Photo: 6/24/73

9. Flowers at Fred’s Home Blooming cactus at Fred’s place on Blue Mound.
Photo: 6/24/73

10. Fred and English Faculty
On a cool, windy day in May 1974, members of the English Departments of the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University and their families held a joint picnic at Manfred’s home. Here, some of the participants look at the property.
Photo: 5/5/74

11. Manfred with Susanna Gasque
At the English Dept. picnic in 1974, Fred carries 19-month-old Susanna Gasque against the cold wind on Blue Mound.
Photo: 5/5/74